Pistons' Dele Retires?

Detroit Pistons center Bison Dele's announcement that he might retire came as no surprise, but his talent will be missed, coach Alvin Gentry said Friday.

"We'd love to have Bison on our team. I think talent rules in this league," Gentry said.

Dele, 30, told the Pistons Wednesday of a possible desire to retire. In the following 48 hours, Pistons' executive vice presidents Rick Sund and Joe Dumars and Gentry talked with Dele.

Dele was in Beirut and didn't plan to return to the United States for a couple of weeks, missing the start of training camp.

Gentry said Terry Mills, who returned to Detroit after two years on the bench of the Miami Heat, could replace Dele in the starting lineup.

"We're not prepared to lose a good player, but we're prepared to move ahead," he said.

Sund emphasized the team's commitment to have Dele return, but said he doesn't anticipate that Dele would report Monday.

"I like to be realistic," Sund said. "He's still contemplating whether he wants to play basketball."

Dele's agent said when Dele gets back, they will talk with team officials.

"He's going through an epiphanal moment in his life," agent Dwight Manley said Thursday night.

"His representative has said he doesn't have the motivation," Dumars, the Pistons director of player of personnel, said. "If he shows up, he shows up."

Gentry and Sund said Dele has handled the situation well. Sund suggested that a worse situation would be Dele showing up for camp without the right mindset to play basketball.

Dele, a 6-foot-11 center, has played two seasons in Detroit. He stands to walk away from about $30 million, with five years left on a contract that called for him to receive $45 million for seven seasons. He was the team's highest-paid player.

Dele was signed by Detroit as a free agent, and his relationship with his teammates was known to be strained.

"I had heard that he might not come back, and I have tried a couple of times to call him," Pistons star Grant Hill said. "I don't want to comment on any of this because I don't know what is going on."

Shortly after joining the Pistons, Dele admitted his passion for basketball was not the best.

"I never had the kind of passion for basketball that my dad had for music," said Dele, whose father was a member of the Platters. "If I had the same kind of passion for basketball as my dad had for music, I probably would be a better player."

Dele averaged 10.5 points and 6.2 rebounds last season, 16.2 points and 8.9 rebounds the previous season.

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